I really appreciate the question.
Continuing along the line of what I said earlier, we believe that dialogue is the best way to solve the issue of Tibet. The Canadian government, including the honourable foreign minister, is on the record urging the Chinese government to enter into dialogue. We request that his statement be consistently and persistently followed up with the Chinese government through the embassy in Beijing, so that the Chinese government is made aware that entering into dialogue is the best way to solve the issue.
We also welcome the establishment of the Office of Religious Freedom and the appointment of Ambassador Andrew Bennett. It would be a sound and a positive gesture on the part of the Canadian government to urge the Chinese government to allow Honourable Ambassador Andrew Bennett to visit Tibet and assess the situation, as far as religious freedom is concerned, because many of the latest self-immolators were monks and nuns. Religious freedom is one of the core issues that is forcing Tibetans to self-immolation. If Honourable Ambassador Andrew Bennett could visit Tibet and then investigate the situation and report to the Chinese government as to the realities, and also to the whole world and the Canadian population, we might find a way to address the issue of Tibet.
Also, perhaps Canadian Ambassador Guy Saint-Jacques could, like U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke, who visited some of the areas, also visit the Tibetan areas and assess the situation and inform the Chinese government as to the realities. I know that efforts are being made by the Canadian embassy to visit Tibetan areas, and this we appreciate, but I think that if persistently pushed, it could be followed up.
Also, UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay issued a very strong and unprecedented statement on self-immolations, but in particular the situation in Tibet. In that statement it has been made very clear that the United Nations and its agencies have made a dozen requests to visit Tibetan areas, and they have also made several recommendations on how to improve human rights conditions in Tibet.
I think China, as a member of the United Nations, should allow the UN human rights commissioner to visit Tibet, because China wants to be a member of the Human Rights Council and is applying for membership of that council. If you are a UN member and you want to be a member of the Human Rights Council, you are expected to follow and implement the directives or the conditions of the United Nations. Accepting a visit by the United Nations human rights commissioner and a special rapporteur on religious freedom should be insisted upon, because China is bound by certain obligations as part of being a UN member.